Beans, such as green beans, as harvested have a central edible pod with blossom and stem ends. The ends of the beans are fibrous, and, therefore, are not tender and thus not palatable to consumers of the beans. Therefore, prior to canning or other packaging of such beans for marketing, it is essential to remove as many of the stem and blossom ends from the harvested beans as possible.
Specialized machines, known as bean snippers, have long been used to remove the ends from large quantities of harvested beans prior to canning or other packaging of the beans. A conventional bean snipper includes an elongated hollow drum which is rotatably mounted on a frame such that the drum extends in a generally horizontal direction with a bean input end of the drum elevated slightly with respect to the other output end thereof. A plurality of circumferentially extending slots are formed on the drum, extending through the drum from the interior to the exterior thereof. The slots are sized and shaped to allow the narrow ends of beans to protrude therethrough from the interior to the exterior of the drum, while preventing the beans themselves from falling out of the drum through the slots. The interior of the drum is divided by axially spaced apart partitions. The partitions within the interior of the bean snipper drum are spaced apart from each other by a distance which is slightly smaller than the typical length of the beans to be processed by the bean snipper, and include central apertures which allow beans to flow through the drum from the elevated input end thereof to the opposite output end thereof as the drum is rotated.
As the bean snipper drum is rotated, beans within the drum are lifted from the inside bottom of the drum and fall back into pockets formed between the partitions therein. The spacing of the partitions within the drum helps to direct the blossom and stem ends of the beans to protrude through the slots formed in the wall of the drum. A plurality of snipper knives are mounted on the outside of the drum, adjacent to the peripheral surface thereof. The snipper knives cut the non-tender blossom and stem ends, which protrude through the slots, from the beans as the drum rotates the slots past the snipper knives. In the random travel of beans from one end of the snipper drum to the other, as the drum is rotated, most of the beans in the drum will have each of their blossom and stem ends protrude through a slot, to be cut off by a snipper knife. Thus, the conventional bean snipper device described is highly effective in removing the undesirable ends from large quantities of beans. Various known devices and structures may be placed within the bean snipper drum to increase snipping efficiency.
Various different types of snipper knives are used in combination with the conventional bean snipper device described above to cut the bean ends which protrude from the slots formed in the drum from the beans. For example, bean snipper knives may be formed as elongated bands of steel having sharpened edges, or having several cutouts or openings with sharpened edges, which are mounted wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of the rotating bean snipper drum in a fixed position, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,383. More commonly, a plurality of bean snipper knife assemblies are mounted adjacent to the outer peripheral surface of the bean snipper drum on a plurality of mounting rods which are attached to the bean snipper drum frame and which extend in an axial direction parallel to the outer surface of the drum. Such knife assemblies typically include a knife head attached to a resilient flexible means, such as a leaf spring or semi-flexible metal knife rod which, in turn, is attached to the mounting rod positioned external and parallel to the bean snipper drum by a knife assembly holder or bracket. The mounting rods on which the knife assemblies are mounted may be fixed or may be oscillated, thereby to oscillate the knife heads of the knife assemblies back and forth in an axial direction against the outer periphery of the bean snipper drum. If a sufficient number of banks of knife assemblies are provided, such that each slot formed in the drum will pass by the cutting edge of at least one knife head during rotation of the drum, maximum bean snipping efficiency can be achieved without requiring such oscillation of the knife assemblies. The knife heads employed in the knife assemblies may have various forms. For example, a bean snipper knife head may include several knives supported on a structure, such as a rigid bar. A more common knife head is triangular in shape, with two cutting edges formed thereon.
A typical knife assembly holder for attaching a knife assembly to a mounting rod is formed as a split cylindrical sleeve, made of metal or plastic, having semi-cylindrical complimentary parts which are positioned around the mounting rod positioned parallel to the snipper drum. The split cylindrical sleeve typically has lugs formed extending therefrom, through which screws, bolts, or other fasteners are used to join the two parts of the sleeve together to secure the sleeve to the mounting rod. Typically, a separate fastener or fasteners are used to secure the resilient flexible leaf spring or knife rod connecting the knife head to the knife assembly holder to the holder. For example, an aperture or clamping structure may be formed on one of the semi-cylindrical complimentary parts forming the split cylindrical sleeve of the holder and adapted to receive an end of a knife rod opposite to the end thereof which is attached to the knife head. A bolt, screw, or other fastener may be used to hold the end of the knife rod in position within the aperture or clamping structure. By properly adjusting the position of the split cylindrical sleeve holder on the mounting rod, and the position of the knife rod on the holder, a desired amount of pressure of the knife head against the snipper drum periphery may be achieved to ensure that the blades on the knife head remain in contact with the drum periphery for effective bean snipping, while minimizing damage to the drum by excessive pressure of the knife head against the rotating drum. A manual cam lever may be provided on the knife assembly holder to engage the knife leaf spring or rod to bow it towards the drum, thereby also to adjust the pressure of the knife head against the drum. Conventional bean snipper knife assemblies and holders therefor of this type are described and illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,304,974, 3,318,350, 3,378,051, 3,885,697, 4,981,073, and 5,144,887.
Before operation of a conventional bean snipper, as described above, it is necessary to mount many snipper knife assemblies onto the mounting rods positioned along side the snipper drum. During operation of the snipper device, it is often necessary to replace worn knife heads and blades, and to adjust the position of the knife assemblies, e.g., to adjust the pressure of the knife head against the outer periphery of the drum, e.g., as the drum periphery and/or knife blades becomes worn, and/or has the resiliency of the leaf spring or knife rod which connects the knife head to the knife assembly holder changes. Such changes and adjustments during operation of the bean snipper device are typically performed in uncomfortable and often messy conditions. Often times, an operator must position himself at least partially under an operating bean snipper to make such adjustments. With a conventional knife assembly holder, e.g., employing split cylindrical sleeves having semi-cylindrical complementary parts held together by a plurality of fasteners, such as screws and bolts, and with separate fasteners for mounting the flexible leaf spring or knife rod connected to the knife head to the knife assembly holder, the process of removing, adjusting, and remounting a snipper knife assembly can take several minutes, and, typically, requires several tools, e.g., wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. Since a typical conventional bean snipper may have many such knife assemblies, e.g., thirty or more, mounted thereon, the total time spent removing, adjusting, and reattaching knife assemblies using conventional knife assembly holders in such a system, to maintain optimal bean snipping efficiency, can be significant.
What is desired, therefore, is a knife assembly holder and method which allows an operator of a bean snipper, or similar agricultural product processing device, to remove, adjust, and remount a knife assembly in a reduced amount of time, and, preferably, by hand, without the use of tools.